Mark Robins, the manager of Coventry City, is under increasing pressure following the club’s poor start to the season.
Coventry City’s start to the Championship season has been extremely disappointing.
The Sky Blues had an excellent season last year, but they were defeated on penalties by Luton Town in the play-off final at Wembley in May.
Coventry City lost star duo Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer after missing out on promotion, but manager Mark Robins was heavily backed in the transfer market this summer, with 11 new arrivals at the CBS Arena.
Despite a massive influx of players, including the club record signing of striker Haji Wright from Antalyaspor for a fee of £7.7 million, the Sky Blues have struggled this season.
Coventry have now gone six games without a win after being held to a 0-0 draw by Stoke City on Saturday, and they are currently 20th in the table, just five points above the relegation zone.
The stalemate against the Potters ended the Sky Blues’ run of four consecutive defeats, and Robins hopes it provides a foundation for his team to build on.
“You need something to build on, and hopefully today is that.” In terms of points, it’s been a difficult period from international break to international break, but some of the performances, and parts of performances, have been really good. “It’s just getting that back together,” Robins explained to Coventry Live.
Is Coventry City manager Mark Robins under pressure?
It may seem strange to talk about pressure on Robins after the remarkable job he has done at Coventry since his return to the club for a second spell in March 2017, but the 53-year-old is under increasing scrutiny.
Robins only signed a new four-year contract with the CBS Arena in May, so his job is unlikely to be jeopardized in the near future, but he is facing a critical few weeks.
After the international break, the Sky Blues face Millwall and Plymouth Argyle in their first two games, and picking up points in those games is critical, with tough fixtures against promotion contenders such as Ipswich Town, Southampton, Leeds United, and Sunderland following.
It won’t be easy against a Millwall side that beat Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 in Joe Edwards’ first game in charge on Saturday, and while the Owls were awful, there were some encouraging signs for the Lions.
By the time the game arrives, Edwards will have had two weeks to work with his new players on the practice field, and he will be eager to make a good impression in his first home game.
While a point at The Den would suffice, Coventry must win all three points against Plymouth, as Argyle have yet to win away from home this season, with only three points on the road.
Poor results in those games would put enormous pressure on the Sky Blues’ subsequent fixtures, and if they fell into the relegation zone, serious questions would be asked of Robins.
Of course, Coventry were in the bottom three in late October last year before finishing fifth and reaching the play-off final, so it would be no surprise to see them improve in the second half of the season once again.
Robins certainly deserves more time, and he has plenty of support from Sky Blues fans, but his patience will be tested if his team is dragged into a relegation battle.
